DIVA Awards Hit It Big
By Anthony Stavrinos AAP
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
Sydney
August 9, 1998
There's something about the idea of men dressing
up as women that seems to fascinate people. Just ask those who put on
the Nine Network's Footy Show, where viewers are regularly confronted
by the female alter-egos of blokey sportsmen, or the millions who
flocked to the box office to see Australian flick Priscilla: Queen of
the Desert, Dustin Hoffman's female impersonation in the 80s hit
Tootsie, or more recently Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire.
And gender
bending is considered no less a part of showbiz closer to home, with
attention tomorrow night centring on what is the night of nights for
men that make their living from donning a frock. The eighth annual
Drag Industry Variety Awards (DIVAs) will descend upon Sydney's Star
City Casino.
The brand spanking new surrounds of the city fringe
gambling palace are expected to pale to insignificance when over a
thousand drag performers and guests fill the auditorium for their
equivalent of television's Logie Awards.
Make no mistake - there's a
lot at stake at this glitzy get together, with excess everything the
order of the day. Making a big splash at the DIVAs can mean the
difference between extra cash flow from work and drag community
obsolescence. There'll be bitchiness, back-stabbing, big hairdos and
Bollinger, outrageous costumes, lots of colour, copious quantities of
alcohol and anything else that induces happiness. Throw in a truckload
of glamour, a few stage spectaculars, enough high-heeled shoes to
rival Imelda Marcos' walk-in wardrobe and 16 of the drag community's
most sought-after awards and you can expect an unforgettable night.
That was certainly the case at last year's DIVAs, where there was more
glamour than you could poke a stiletto at and the evening's host,
Penny Clifford, who is also on the organising committee, ensuring the
expletive allowance was fully spent. She had a plentiful supply of
expletives and was happy to share them with more than 900 audience
members at the Hordern Pavilion in eastern Sydney's Moore Park.
There'll be four hosts this year - established drag performers Miss
Simone Troy, Miss Trudi Valentine and Miss Portia Turbo as well as
comic drag genius Miss Vanessa Wagner. According to the event's
technical producer, Anthony Russell, a least three months of
preparation had gone into preparing the lighting and sound set-up for
the night.
"We're using all the equipment that was used for the Rocky
Horror production that's been here," Mr Russell said. "We've erected a
huge video wall about 20 feet high by 30 feet across (7 metres by 9
metres) and there's enough equipment here to provide lighting for two
major dance parties. "There's going to be heaps of visual effects,
lots of lasers, plenty of tricks and some aerial stunts as well."
Cool Names Too!
A
close look at the name's on a long list of drag performers making an
appearance at the event will be enough to amuse the most unassuming of
onlookers. Tess Tickle, Wyness Mongrel-Bitch, Atlanta Georgia,
Mogadonna, Chelsea Bun, Pencil Vania, Victoria Barracks and Penny
Tration are just a few of the more interesting stage labels.
The primary source of entertainment, however, will be the spontaneity of
those that find themselves in the spotlight on the night. When
collecting last year's 'Bitch of the Year', Maude Boate took a swipe
at a former employer from whom a pay rise had been given - followed
shortly afterwards by a termination of employment. Miss Boate, referred
to as Michael by only a close circle of friends, has been a stand-out
performer at the DIVAs since first receiving an award for costume
design in 1993. But Miss Boate said continued recognition in the
industry with another award was not important. "I've already got
plenty of them (awards) and people know who I am," Miss Boate said.
"It's really good to get an award but life goes on and there's
business transactions and costumes to be made."
He said he began
dressing up in women's clothing in his pre-teenage years and that the
situation was helped along when his mother placed half her 60s
wardrobe in his bedroom after she ran out of space in hers.
"My
parents used to leave the house and I used to have a field day with
mum's clothes," Miss Boate. "I think they realised I wasn't your normal
everyday kid when I was caught trying on my friend's mother's
clothes." People used to call him "poofter" at school but he was too
stupid to know what it meant, he said. "I grew up in Lismore so I guess
you could call me a Lismoron," Miss Boate said. He said after a while,
performing drag was just like any other job and it was surprising what
types of men were attracted to the drag look.
"I've had a few
footballers in my time and they're not as butch as they make out to
be," Miss Boate said. "They don't fool me." The DIVAs have grown
dramatically since first held in 1991. Back then, 250 people squeezed
into a dance floor-cum-ballroom at Sydney's flagship nightclub, DCM.
But the DIVAs hasn't grown too big for its boots (of the black,
knee-high variety). After the formalities, the bitchiness,
back-stabbing and hype of the DIVAs carries on into the early hours of
the morning at its Oxford Street birthplace. And DCM's licensee, Sue
Heenan, has promised patrons an overdose of drama, colour and
theatrics or they can have their money back.
I think it's a safe bet,
Sue.
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